Ursuline Academy, Grand Concourse

In the approximate years 1902-1959, a girls' school, Ursuline Academy, stood on high ground on the southeast corner of East 165th Street and the Grand Concourse. The same congregation of religious sisters that ran the Academy of Mount Saint Ursula in Bedford Park also taught in this school.
A photograph from the New York Public Library is linked HERE.

An excellent photo of the corner site is HERE. What a staircase! I used to think of it built atop a pile of rocks.

Pope Leo XIII urged religious congregations that shared a common founder to reunite as Rome-centered groups. The Sisters of various Ursuline houses were asked whether they wished to join such a Roman Union, and the Bronxites agreed. Apparently, they needed a location for a provincialate, bought the Grand Concourse rock and created thereupon a convent and school. 

Academy of Mt. St. Ursula

The Academy of Mount St. Ursula is the newer building above.  To the left, and joined to it is the older building, the former convent, with several educational uses. Each photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

See page 357 for the arrival of the Ursulines in The Bronx in 1855. They established an academy on Westchester Avenue, east of Eagle Avenue, Morrisania. In 1892, they moved the academy and convent to Mount St. Ursula in Bedford Park, between Marion and Valentine Avenues, where the staff of the academy in 2013 continues to educate girls of high school age. The mailing address and school entrance is 330 Bedford Park Boulevard, NY 10458.
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The website of the Academy of Mount St. Ursula is here. The international website of the Ursulines is here.
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South of the high school, Serviam Heights is constructing more senior apartments, with some facilities apparently also within the 1892 building. Please see this article in the Norwood News dated 1.26.2016.

Our Lady of Mercy, Fordham

Above is the Mass schedule as of October, 2011.  The parish website includes a schedule (linked here) with the abbreviations spelled out.
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The schedule may have changed, as the parish has been administered by the pastor of Our Savior parish on Washington Avenue since October, 2014.

See page 472 for a reference to the current church of Our Lady of Mercy on Marion Avenue, south of Fordham Road, dedicated in 1908. The parish was begun about 1855 on the property of St. John's College. Later, the church was located on Webster Avenue. The rectory, adjacent to the church, is at 2496 Marion Avenue, Bronx NY 10458, telephone 718-933-4400.  The informative and extensive parish website is linked here.
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Our Lady of Mercy parish school at 2512 Marion Avenue closed in June, 2013. For many decades renowned Sisters and lay persons directed or staffed the school. Until the 1970's, there were separate boys' and girls' departments, Ursuline Sisters teaching the girls and Dominican Sisters teaching the boys.

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Facing Marion Avenue is this shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, apparently with references to Our Lady's other titles in Latin America.  La Virgen de la Altagracia is patroness of the Dominican Republic.

Weekday noon Mass is offered in the chapel here, to the right of the rectory.  The sign in the window explains that this is the location for preparation for Baptism.

St. Philip Neri, Bedford Park

See page 230 for the 1898 creation of the parish of St Philip Neri in Bedford Park to care for Italian laborers constructing a nearby reservoir. The church is located on the west side of the Grand Concourse at East 202nd St., a few steps north of Bedford Park Blvd. The rectory address is 3025 Grand Concourse, Bronx NY 10468, phone number is 718-733-3200.
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A parish website is linked here.

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.
An excellent summary of the church's history and a full description of its organ is linked here.

The school address is 3031 Grand Concourse, adjacent to the rectory.  For decades, the Ursuline Sisters directed and staffed the parish school.  In 2010, the enrollment seems to have been about 250.
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Catholic Charities has received approval in January, 2020, for two apartment houses quite opposite each other on Villa Avenue, behind the church. Please see this article in New York Yimby. A 14 story apartment house will replace a parking lot on the west side of Villa Avenue. It seems that the new structure on the east side (church-and-school side) is a smaller apartment house.

St. Jerome, Alexander Avenue, Mott Haven

The above view shows St. Jerome's church at Alexander Avenue and busy East 138th Street in Mott Haven, The Bronx. Not everyone arrives by town car. Stairs from the Third Avenue station of the #6 subway train are to the right of the photographer.

The above view looks north on Alexander Avenue from East 137th Street. At the next corner is St. Jerome's church. In the foreground is Saint Jerome's elementary school, which the archdiocese closed in 2013. The rectory is between them at 230 Alexander Avenue, Bronx NY 10454, telephone 718-665-5533. It appears that neighboring St. Luke's parish will be staffed from St. Jerome's by August, 2016.  On 4.1.2015, Archbishop Dolan appointed Fr. Javier Correa-Llano, I.V.E, pastor of St. Jerome's.  A native or Argentina, he was ordained in 2001.

On the 138th Street side of the church is this shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Mexico. On a weekday afternoon, I found the church locked.

In Msgr. Shelley's book, please see page 230 for a reference to Italians at St Jerome parish in 1893. On pages 292 and 293, there is a more lengthy description of the establishment of St Jerome parish in 1869 under Father John J. Hughes. By 1871, he constructed a school on Alexander Avenue at East 137 Street. The present church on the southeast corner of Alexander Avenue and East 138 Street dates from 1900. For many years, Ursuline Sisters staffed the school. For decades after 1928, the Brothers of the Christian Schools taught the older boys. Page 558 contrasts Mass attendance in 1950 (6,100) and 1975 (795). Page 586 describes the parish in difficult times. See also page 606 for recent restoration of the church.

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About 2007, Archbishop Egan entrusted this parish to the care of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, a congregation founded in Argentina about twenty-five years ago. They, "the IVE fathers," also staff St. Thomas Aquinas parish, Crotona Parkway, and St. Michael parish in East New York, Brooklyn.
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An excellent professional photographer has posted about 200 of her photos of St. Jerome's on Flickr, as linked here. Her photo of the Eye is here. Another photographer offers an interior shot from the altar steps to the main doors, linked here.
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The AIA Guide and other places give the church architect as the firm Delhi & Howard, but the spelling is wrong. Please see this brief biography of Arne Dehli. Dehli, from Norway, designed quite a few impressive buildings in metropolitan New York.

St Angela Merici, East 163 St, Melrose

East 163rd Street is at the right. The church entrance can be seen in the center of the school. Please continue reading below the next two photos.

See page 295 for the creation of St Angela Merici parish, at Morris Avenue and East 163 St., Melrose, in 1899. The present church dates from 1923. For many years, Ursuline Sisters taught in the school of this parish named after their foundress. See page 606 for parishioners from Nigeria. The parish website is linked here. The rectory's address is 917 Morris Ave., Bronx NY 10451, and the telephone is 718-293-0984. In January, 2024, the school's function is unclear. It may have discontinued grades 1-8 a few years ago.
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The third photo is taken from East 162nd Street, looking at the altar end of the church. Anytime you are reading such a blog as this one, a click on the photo will bring an enlargement. For example, if you wish to read what is written above the door of the church entrance in the second photo above, just click on that photo.

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In January, 2023, the two priests are members of the Apostles of Jesus Missionary Congregation founded in Uganda fifty years ago.